Tuesday, October 22, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 8
Vice President Kamala Harris has expanded her lead against former President Donald Trump to 19 points among likely New York voters as the race for the White House enters its final stretch, according to a Siena College poll released Tuesday.
The vice president leads Trump 58-39%, the poll found, which is up slightly from 55-42% in September. In a multi-candidate race, Harris leads by 17 points, with minor party candidates totaling 4%.
It’s a dramatic improvement from President Joe Biden’s eight-point lead over Trump in the last Siena poll conducted while he was the presumed Democratic nominee.
“Harris continues to have 88% support from Democrats and 87% of Republicans continue to support Trump. Independent voters – who have a tendency to fluctuate on how closely they align with the two parties – are closely divided, with 47% for Trump and 46% for Harris, after strongly favoring Trump last month,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement.
Greenberg also said the gender gap is widening in New York, the poll found, with men supporting Trump 54-43% and women backing Harris 71-25%.
Voters continue to have a favorable view of Harris, 54-43%, while viewing Trump unfavorably at 38-60%, according to the poll.
“New Yorkers continue to trust Harris more than Trump to do a better job on four key issues – two, abortion and democracy, by 33 points and 20 points, respectively. On the economy and immigration, voters narrowly think Harris will do a better job,” Greenberg said. “At least 81% of Democrats say Harris will do better on three of the issues, while 76% say she will be better on immigration. Similarly, at least 85% of Republicans say Trump will do a better job on three of the issues, with 72% saying he’d be better on abortion.”
New York, which currently has 28 electoral votes, has voted for the Democratic presidential candidate in every election since 1988.
When it comes to other elections in New York this year, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand holds a 26-point lead over her Republican opponent, former NYPD Detective Mike Sapraicone, in her bid for a third full six-year term.
The poll found New York voters also favor Democrats for Congress over Republicans 54-37%, which is up slightly from last month. Downstate suburbanites and independents had favored Republican candidates last month, but now favor Democrats for Congress.
Voters in November will also decide the fate of a constitutional amendment known as Proposition 1, or the Equal Rights Amendment, which adds anti-discrimination provisions to the state Constitution to protect abortion rights. New York voters strongly support the measure by a 69-22% margin.
“While Republicans oppose the amendment by a 50-36% margin, 89% of Democrats and 62% of independents support the amendment,” Greenberg said. “Regionally, it’s supported by 57% of upstate voters, 69% of downstate suburban voters and 84% of New York City voters. More than three-quarters of women support the amendment, as do 58% of men.”
According to the poll, voters say this is the most important election of their lifetime by a 75-23% margin, down a little from last month, with 80% of Democrats, 77% of Republicans and 63% of independents holding that view.
The poll shows Gov. Kathy Hochul’s favorability rating, which hit historic lows in recent months, is up a little at 36-51%. Her job approval rating stands at 41-51%, which is also up slightly.
“The good news for Hochul is that both her favorability and job approval ratings are up a little. The bad news is that they’re up from all time lows and have a ways to go before reaching positive territory,” Greenberg said.
President Joe Biden has a breakeven 48-48% favorability rating, up from 45-51% in September. His job approval rating is now 50-49%, up from 47-53%.
The poll was conducted between Oct. 13-17 among 872 likely voters in New York. It has an overall margin of error of +/- 4.2 percentage points.
Source: Spectrum News NY1
